[Linux4christians] Sunday - Song of Songs 1

[dcolburn at bibleseven.com]

    Sunday


      Song of Songs 1



Title/Superscription

1:1 Solomon's Most Excellent Love Song.

The Desire for Love

1:2 /*The Beloved to Her Lover:*/

Oh, how I wish you would kiss me passionately!

For your lovemaking is more delightful than wine.

1:3 The fragrance of your colognes is delightful; your name is like the 
finest perfume. No wonder the young women adore you!

1:4 Draw me after you; let us hurry!

May the king bring me into his bedroom chambers!



/*The Maidens*/ /*to the Lover:*/

We will rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine.

The Beloved to Her Lover: How rightly the young women adore you!



The Country Maiden and the Daughters of Jerusalem

1:5 /*The Beloved to the Maidens:*/

I am dark but lovely, O maidens of Jerusalem, dark like the tents of 
Qedar, lovely like the tent curtains of Salmah.

1:6 Do not stare at me because I am dark, for the sun has burned my skin.

My brothers were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards.

Alas, my own vineyard I could not keep!



The Shepherd and the Shepherdess

1:7 /*The Beloved to Her Lover:*/

Tell me, O you whom my heart loves, where do you pasture your sheep?

Where do you rest your sheep during the midday heat?

Tell me lest I wander around beside the flocks of your companions!



1:8 /*The Lover to His Beloved:*/

If you do not know, O most beautiful of women, simply follow the tracks 
of my flock, and pasture your little lambs beside the tents of the 
shepherds.



The Beautiful Mare and the Fragrant Myrrh

1:9 /*The Lover to His Beloved:*/

O my beloved, you are like a mare among Pharaoh's stallions.

1:10 Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments; your neck is lovely with 
strings of jewels.

1:11 We will make for you gold ornaments studded with silver.



1:12 /*The Beloved about Her Lover:*/

While the king was at his banqueting table, my nard gave forth its 
fragrance.

1:13 My beloved is like a fragrant pouch of myrrh spending the night 
between my breasts.

1:14 My beloved is like a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of 
En-Gedi.



Mutual Praise and Admiration

1:15 /*The Lover to His Beloved:*/

Oh, how beautiful you are, my beloved!

Oh, how beautiful you are!

Your eyes are like doves!



1:16 /*The Beloved to Her Lover:*/

Oh, how handsome you are, my lover!

Oh, how delightful you are!

The lush foliage is our canopied bed; 1:17 the cedars are the beams of 
our bedroom chamber; the pines are the rafters of our bedroom.



      Prayer


Lord, Your love for those who have accepted Jesus as Lord is beyond any 
mere human comparison, but that is the best we can do as we attempt to 
comprehend it. May I praise You and rest in the encouragement and peace 
that comes from knowing that you love me with a passion unmatched 
anywhere in this world.


      Commentary


There is scholarly debate as to authorship; if the texts are written by 
Solomon or were they written about Solomon, and if are they purely about 
romantic passion or if there are embedded meanings beyond that.

Solomon began with a description of the passion of one of the maidens, 
who compared his lovemaking to the intoxicating effects of wine, then 
apologizes for her dark sin due to labor in the sun. The maidens are all 
as smitten with him as she but she pleads to be invited into his king's 
chambers.


Then he described himself as a shepherd and she as a shepherdess, she 
asked where he would be with his sheep, so that she would not be 
following around some other shepherd's flock. He instructed her to 
follow closely the path of his sheep and thus be near to him.


He compared her to a mare among Pharaoh's stallions. [The NET 
Translator's Notes explain that this was drawn from a story where an 
enemy of Pharaoh sent a mare among his chariot-pulling stallions to 
cause them to go wild, but a soldier killed it before the stallions 
could react.]


She responded that he was like myrrh between her breasts as she slept or 
like henna blossoms in the desert oasis.


They concluded by exchanging compliments and her final word described 
their place of passions "The lush foliage is our canopied bed; the 
cedars are the beams of our bedroom chamber; the pines are the rafters 
of our bedroom."



      Interaction

Consider

One might draw from the discussion of her following him with his sheep 
that a parallel-meaning could be the call of Jesus to His "bride" (the 
church) to do likewise.


        Discuss

Does it fit with the rest of the Biblical text the Song of Songs be 
merely about romantic passion, especially in the context of possible 
unwed lust, and possible multiple partners? Or should one look for 
meaning illustrated in an emotionally-powerful imagery?



        Reflect

The author's knowledge of Egyptian history was remarkably detailed.


        Share

When have you experienced or observed someone as smitten with Jesus as 
the woman in the text was by Solomon?



      Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the deep and passionate love He has 
for you.



        Action:

Today I will praise the Lord God and rest in the image of Him welcoming 
me, with open arms and a smile like the sun, into Heaven.


        Be Specific ______________________________________________________



    Monday's text will be:


      Song of Songs 2



-- 

Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you,
Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day!
David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo
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Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com
Bible Resources: http://bible.org
Teacher's Verse: John 7:16
Defend free speech or lose your freedom.
I don't google I SEARCH! Startpage.com
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